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Crime smokes lucrative tobacco market

Heavily armed criminal gangs are plundering the lucrative tobacco industry, carrying out at least four hijackings a day on vehicles transporting cigarettes.

“You ‘hit’ a vehicle transporting cigarettes and you strike gold,” said Francois van der Merwe, CEO of the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa.

The tobacco institute claims that at least 6billion cigarettes consumed annually are either illegal (stolen and counterfeit) or illicit (undeclared or incorrectly packaged by the manufacturer to avoid paying tax).

Of the 6 billion illicit cigarettes sold annually, 3 billion were manufactured in the country.

He was commenting after Tabby Tsengiwe, the spokesman for British American Tobacco – one of the biggest distributors of cigarettes in South Africa – said yesterday that 1412 of its transport vehicles were hijacked annually.

This equates to about four attacks a day. In January, armed robbers attacked a BAT vehicle in Brackenhurst, south of Johannesburg. On the same day, a truck delivering cigarettes was robbed by seven men armed with R5 assault rifles in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg.

In April, police arrested five men in King William’s Town, Eastern Cape, after they robbed a truck of cigarettes worth R180.000.

And according to a police report to the Gauteng portfolio committee on community safety in November last year, 20.5% of hijackings in the province involved BAT vehicles transporting cigarettes.

Criminologists, researchers and the cigarette industry say sophisticated and organised syndicates are reportedly moving away from cash-in-transit vehicles, ATMs and banks to softer targets such as un-armoured and unescorted vehicles distributing cigarettes across South Africa.

With the cigarette war escalating, criminologists are urging the government to do more to combat the crime.

The company said hijackers prized products that could be rapidly dispersed, which made trucks transporting fast-moving consumer goods vulnerable.

Van der Merwe said BAT was hardest hit by crime because of its huge distribution network system.

“The traditional way of delivery is through wholesalers.”

Because vehicles carry as many as 50 “master cases”, which contain about 10,000 cigarettes, a single attack could result in a syndicate “striking gold”.

With a single cigarette costing R3 on the street, they could make R30,000 from one hit.

“This is done mainly through excise manipulation, where not all produce is declared to SARS. Since 2010 South Africa has lost more than R22-billon because of illicit cigarettes,” he said.

Source: timeslive

Cigarette ads actor dies of smoking-related disease

Eric Lawson, who portrayed the rugged Marlboro man in cigarette ads during the late 1970s, has died of a smoking-related disease. He was 72.

The Marlboro Man is the macho cowboy in the Old West. This is how Phillip Morris markets its Marlboro cigarattes.

The Marlboro Man was conceived by the advertising firm, Leo Burnett in 1954.

Well, the advertising campaigns worked successfully, at least in the past. Due to heightened antismoking sentiment and health concerns, the public living in developed countries no longer yearn to be the Marlboro Man.

Lawson died Jan. 10 at his home in San Luis Obispo of respiratory failure, his wife, Susan Lawson said Sunday.

Lawson later appeared in an anti-smoking commercial that parodied the Marlboro man and an “Entertainment Tonight” segment to discuss the negative effects of smoking. Susan said her husband was proud of the interview, even though he was smoking at the time.

“He knew the cigarettes had a hold on him,” she said. “He knew, yet he still couldn’t stop.”

A few actors and models who pitched Marlboro brand cigarettes have died of smoking-related diseases. They include David Millar, who died of emphysema in 1987, as well as Dick Hammer and David McLean, who both died of lung cancer.

Wayne McLaren, an American actor who portrayed The Marlboro Man in Marlboro’s advertisements in the 1970s, also died of lung cancer in 1992.

Millions of illegal cigarettes seized at Warmbaths

Millions of illegal cigarettes were recovered from an LP Gas tanker in BelaBela (Warmbaths) after being inspected by police on 31 May 2013.

The cigarettes were concealed in hidden compartments within the tanker, which entered South Africa via the Groblersbrug border post between Botswana and South Africa.

Authorities from the South African Police Service recovered illegal Dullahs, Mega and Remington Gold cigarettes with a street value of R2,2 million. The cigarettes which were non-compliant with the Tobacco

Products Control Act and the Customs and Excise Act, appear to have been destined for the South African market. Upon further investigation, authorities confirmed that the tanker did not belong to LP Gas and that the driver had no supporting documentation for the vehicle or for the cigarettes. The trailer, together with the illegal cigarettes, was seized by SAPS and the driver was arrested.

The illegal trade in cigarettes continues to be of major concern to authorities, with estimates putting it at 30% of the total cigarette market in South Africa. A significant number of illegal cigarettes make their way into the country via the Zimbabwe and Botswana border posts every day, despite concerted efforts by authorities to curb the growing illegal trade.

According to Francois van der Merwe, Chairman of the Tobacco Institute of Southern Africa, SAPS are to be commended on their swift action leading to the seizure and arrest. ?The sale of these illegal cigarettes would have amounted to an almost R1.8 million revenue loss to government, due to non-declaration and non-payment of excise duties and VAT?.

TISA has been actively working towards a more collaborative approach in combating illicit trade not only in South Africa, but across the Southern African region. Memoranda of Understanding on an approach towards tackling the illegal cigarette trade have been concluded with all SACU countries as well as Mozambique. Because illicit trade occurs within countries and across borders, it is necessary to work together within a legitimate framework to curb the growing tide of illegal trading.

“Although significant progress has already been made to curb this growing tide, we believe that there should be increased resource allocation to enable greater law enforcement on the borders, and within the country where illicit trading is increasing as well as dedicated investigation teams. Furthermore, a co-ordinated approach involving SACU and SADC law enforcement authorities is needed to really eliminate the illicit trade in cigarettes. TISA remains committed to working with all the relevant parties in efforts to eradicate the illegal trade in tobacco products,” Van der Merwe concluded.

Smoking ‘rots’ brain

Smoking “rots” the brain by damaging memory, learning and reasoning, according to researchers at King’s College London.

A study of 8,800 people over 50 showed high blood pressure and being overweight also seemed to affect the brain, but to a lesser extent.

Scientists involved said people needed to be aware that lifestyles could damage the mind as well as the body.

Their study was published in the journal Age and Ageing.

Researchers at King’s were investigating links between the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke and the state of the brain.

Data about the health and lifestyle of a group of over-50s was collected and brain tests, such as making participants learn new words or name as many animals as they could in a minute, were also performed.

They were all tested again after four and then eight years.

The results showed that the overall risk of a heart attack or stroke was “significantly associated with cognitive decline” with those at the highest risk showing the greatest decline.

It also said there was a “consistent association” between smoking and lower scores in the tests.

One of the researchers, Dr Alex Dregan, said: “Cognitive decline becomes more common with ageing and for an increasing number of people interferes with daily functioning and well-being.

“We have identified a number of risk factors which could be associated with accelerated cognitive decline, all of which, could be modifiable.”

Dr Simon Ridley, from Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “Research has repeatedly linked smoking and high blood pressure to a greater risk of cognitive decline and dementia, and this study adds further weight to that evidence.

“Cognitive decline as we age can develop into dementia, and unravelling the factors that are linked to this decline could be crucial for finding ways to prevent the condition.

“These results underline the importance of looking after your cardiovascular health from mid-life.”

The Alzheimer’s Society said: “We all know smoking, a high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and a high BMI [Body Mass Index] is bad for our heart. This research adds to the huge amount of evidence that also suggests they can be bad for our head too.

“One in three people over 65 will develop dementia but there are things people can do to reduce their risk. – BBC